Babe Ruth may have been discovered at Mount St. Mary's. That was the lead of a column I wrote in 1981.
The column was about the book "A Century of Sports at the Mount" written by Mount St. Mary's economics professor Frank Zarnowski.
In the book, Zarnowski talked about how Ruth was a catcher on the St. Mary's Industrial School baseball team when in 1911 it came to theEmmitsburgschool to play the Mount prep team. St. Mary's was located in Baltimore.
At the same time, former Washington Senators pitcher Joe Engel was at the Mount to take part in an alumni game. Engel saw Ruth play and was impressed. Later he talked with Jack Dunn, owner of the minor league Baltimore Orioles, about Ruth. Dunn signed Ruth to a minor league contract and the rest is history.
Zarnowski said he wasn't sure how much of the story was true. He had read about it in two early books about the Mount. But he did know that there was a connection between the Mount and Ruth.
Ruth was friends with several of the priests at the school and would come up to the school every several years to put on batting exhibitions. In Zarnowski's book, there are several photos of Ruth at the Mount.
The book, which I still have copy of, was basically a photo book that Zarnowski put together at the suggestion of former Mount president Robert Wickenheiser.
Zarnowski was a good choice. Although he was an economics professor, he was also the Mount's unofficial sports historian. Earlier he had written a book on the history of Mount basketball. He is also the world's foremost authority on the decathlon and has written several books on that event.
In past years I used to talk with Zarnowski a good deal about Mount sports. He also has attended numerous Olympics and I wrote a lot of stories in which I quoted him about the Games.
n In 1981, I found a little story about three Maryland players fighting during the preseason to be the team's starting quarterback. The first two were Bob Milkovich and Brent Dewitz. The third was little known Boomer Esiason.
Esiason was only a sophomore who had not played the previous year because he had reported to camp out of shape. He had never played in a varsity game, but that was quickly to change.
Esiason played in 11 games that year and threw for 1,635 yards and nine touchdowns. It was the first of three good years he was to have at the school, the last two under Bobby Ross, who took over as coach his junior year. Esiason later went on to have an outstanding career in the pros.
But in August 1981 he was just an unproven quarterback trying to get his shot.
n The football coaches at the two city schools were to use new offenses that season. Dave Schrodel, in his first year at Thomas Johnson, was switching to a pro-type offense. Meanwhile, Adam Craven ofFrederickwould use the I-formation. Both teams were in their first week of practice.
n Washington beat St. Louis 20-13 in an exhibition game that was George Allen's first game as coach of the Redskins. Allen had made 18 trades during the offseason. Meanwhile, the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts lost to Detroit, 23-20, in their exhibition opener.
n Locally owned Amber Pass won the $284,300 Monmouth Handicap by two lengths. With the win, the 4-year-old, who was owned by Entremont Stables, saw his lifetime earnings reach $513,367.
nFrederickHigh School announced it would field a soccer team for the first time since 1967. It was the only county school without soccer.
n Delaware champion Seaford beat Brunswick, 5-2, in the first round of the Little League Eastern Regionals. The loss eliminated the local team from the tournament.
n Presstman of Baltimore oustedFrederickfrom the state American Legion Tournament with a 10-5 win.
n Glenn Davis, who had missed the past four months with a neck injury, finally looked like the player the Orioles thought he would be when they acquired him from Houston. He had a three-run homer and a two-run double in an 8-6 win over Texas. Davis had only recently been activated.
n There was a controversy over the name for the Orioles' new stadium, scheduled to open in 1992. Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer wanted to call it Camden Yards. Orioles owner Eli Jacobs liked the name Oriole Park. They finally compromised on Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
n More than 111,000 fans came out to watch the defending Super Bowl-champion Baltimore Ravens train over the course of two weeks at McDaniel College. The year before, they drew only 38,000. Even Ravens officials were "amazed" by the attendance. They thought they might double attendance, not triple it.
n Saying the Maryland football team lacks discipline, new coach Ralph Friedgen put four nearby bars off limits to his players. He also wanted them to do more lifting and pay more attention to curfews and mandatory meals.
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